Ice Floes, oil on linen panel

Ice Floes, oil on linen panel

695.00

Ice Floes, oil on linen panel

695.00

This landscape was painted en plein air during this past winter in Pennsylvania's Black Moshannon State Park.

Now, do you conjure up an image of an artist wearing a beret and working with a paint-splattered apron when you hear the term "en plein air" (painted outside, on location)?

Well, how'bout big, brown, quilted Carhartt bib overalls?

I made my investment in Carhartts last year after I attended a winter plein air painting event. Now I have a new appreciation for why electricians, carpenters, and other outdoor workers like them. They are indispensable for winter days, and they helped me complete this piece from Black Moshannon State Park early this past winter.

Although I work from photographic reference material for a lot of my artwork, there's nothing quite like what you see with your own two eyes out in the field. It gets tougher to maintain this discipline during the chilly winter months, but if you can bundle up, the rewards are there. I don't think that a mere photograph would have done justice to the beautiful subtlety of color that I caught on this particular afternoon.